Using Wordpress

I love Wordpress. My personal opinion is that it is the most versatile and easy-to-use blogging platforms available at the moment. The software is free: You can install it on your own website or register a free account at Wordpress.com. It is one of two platforms that is easily accessed by those with little or no money to spend on a website. Even better, it is easy to add Google Adsense or other widgets to your site using Wordpress.

I like Wordpress for a variety of reasons. This software can be used as a blog or as a content management platform. The category and tag structure make it easy to organize your site appropriately using this software and I remain a happy customer. I prefer Wordpress over other blogging platforms including Blogger and Moveable Type (Typepad).

The Wordpress Dashboard

Preparing to Post

Your posts are the heart and soul of your blog. They are the reason why you have a blog in the first place and it is the content of your posts that will attract your visitors to your blog. I will walk you through creating your first post in Wordpress. In a future hub I will talk more about using keywords and tags in blog posts. Watch my profile for more information.

To create a post in Wordpress, log into your account. You will immediately be taken to your dashboard. I have included a picture of my dashboard for you to look at. Along the left hand side of your screen, you will see a menu. The second option on that menu is "posts." Click the link titled "add new." This will open the post screen.

The Wordpress Post Page

Creating Your First Post

When I first started blogging, I didn't think a great deal about it. I didn't really understand how search engines worked, and it didn't matter anyway. I just wanted to talk about myself and my life, as many bloggers still do. I wasn't worried about income potential from my blog and I didn't care much what other people thought. So I just wrote. It worked out quite well for me, actually!

These days, however, most people in the blogging world are looking to monetize their sites, and I don't blame them! This is a world where there is so much potential to make money on the internet that everyone is looking to get into the game! If you have the time and the inclination, I highly recommend searching hubpages for articles about how to monetize your blog and how to do well with search engines. I am going to give you some basic tips in this section as well as below, but it is always good to get more perspective on the matter!

Give your blog entry a catchy title. Keep it in relation to the tone and theme of your site. My blog, for example, is my personal journey as a Christian mother. So I used the title "A Mother's Prayer." This type of title will be caught by search engines and will catch the eye of people who are interested in the type of material I will be writing on my site.

When you are finished, create your content. The key here (if you are attempting to optimize for Google and other search engines) is to make your content as unique as possible. Make the work original and do not post something in your blog that you have also posted on a forum. Don't quote your blog on hubpages and don't quote your hub on your blog. Keep it unique in every aspect!

Remember to stay true to your theme, as this will help you to catch and keep regular readers of your blog!

Creating that First Category

On the right-hand side of the post page, at the bottom, you should see a section titled "categories." If you have javascript enabled on your computer, this will allow you to create your first category right on the post screen! Click "+Add Category."

This will open up a box that allows you to type in the name of your category. I am writing about a mother's prayer, so I will put into my box "Prayers." When you click "add" your post will be immediately and automatically added to the new category!

Adding a Child Category in Wordpress

Adding Child Categories

I do a lot of praying, so I might want to make different categories for each different type of prayer I will be posting in my blog. The post I just made is about A Mother's Prayer so I want to add another category -- a child category under the heading of "prayers." This becomes slightly more complicated!

Look back to the left hand menu under the "post" tag again. The last link under this heading is "categories." Open that link. This will give you a screen with all of your categories listed on the right hand side of the page and an area for creating a new category in the middle (sandwiched between your current category list and your menu).

Type in the name of your category. In my case, I will type in "For Myself."

Below the text-box for entering the new category name you will see a drop-down menu. Above it is a label that says "parent category" and in it "none." Click the down arrow and scroll through your current categories, selecting the category under which you wish to have your child category. In my case, I chose "Prayers."

If you wish, add a description of your category. Then simply click "add category."

It's that simple!

One Last Thing: Tags in Wordpress

Particularly if you are using wordpress.com, you will want to add some tags to your post. Wordpress.com uses your tags to relate your posts to various interests. Tags on the site are searchable for the entire network and this can greatly increase traffic to your site. If you are hoping to monetize your blog, this is crucial!

I hope that this tutorial has helped you in some way. I have another hug coming soon relating to how to get noticed by search engines, in particular Google. Please watch my profile for that post!

My Other Web Helps

Improving Descriptive WritingThough this link doesn't relate directly to internet use and developing a blog or other website, it can be helpful to those who are trying to get more attention for their creative writing (which could apply to your blog!).

Creating a Site for MonetizationThis article talks about creating a site for monetization. Though I am generally against this practice, if you are hoping to create a new site in order to make money, check out this hub!

Getting Noticed by GooglePeople are often looking for ways to make money online. If you can't attract search engine traffic, however, you aren't going to have a lot of luck! This article gives the reader some general ideas that should help them to be more attractive!

Tips for Creating a Successful ForumI have owned several forums with various degrees of success. This article is written from the perspective of someone with experience with forums and the information provided is tried and true!

Comments

No HTML is allowed in comments, but URLs will be hyperlinked. Comments are not for promoting your articles or other sites.

sending

Freddie 6 years ago

I am getting so much Spam and do not know how to prevent it on Wordpress. Do you perhaps have some advise?

viryabo 8 years ago

I have a wordpress account, but have no clue as to how to start off.

Seems so complex.

Please how can i learn its application? Im a fast learner, all i need is the ropes.

lindagoffigan 8 years agofrom Phoenix, Arizona

I am too busy on Hubpages to stray just yet although I do have a Wordpress account.

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

I don't think it functions as well as previous versions of Wordpress, personally. I'd like to see it *not* go in the direction that Moveable Type did because they lost me completely. Very sad.

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

I wanted to let readers know that I'm making some minor edits to this page at the moment. The same information will be present, but the layout will be changing slightly to be more effective. Thank you for your understanding and patience!

Is yours the same? I tested it and am not getting a pending tag on it, but I can seek out the answer for you. It would help if you can upload a screenshot to photobucket and send me the link!

Peter 8 years agofrom Australia

E M my version is 2.7.1 and stilling showing pending. I' be looking more closely over the weekend, Ill let you know if I find anything.

Peter 8 years agofrom Australia

I have not checked for a while . I'll get back to you on that.

I do know it was a WP.org site tho.

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

I have never seen anything like that. What version are you using?

Peter 8 years agofrom Australia

Everyday Miracles, thanks for this info, great stuff. One question you may be able to answer. When I open new catergories on WP they show up all the time as "pending" . Can you explain this please.

Kari Poulsen 8 years agofrom Ohio

Thanks for all the information!! I am getting ready to start a blog on OR nursing and you have really helped me. Congratulations on being a part of HubNuggets! You are a wonderful addition to HubPages and I love what you write!

GeneriqueMedia 8 years agofrom Earth

Thanks for that insight. =) Maybe when I get my new EP together I'll start blogging there...

Sincerely,

G|M

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

Thank you Dottie1!

Dottie1 8 years agofrom MA, USA

Thanks for this information on wordpress. It has been very helpful and has planted some new ideas. Also, congratulations on becoming a hubnugget nominee. Good Luck!

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

Thank you, RKHenry! Glad you liked it!

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

G|M,

Wordpress is really good. The benefit of Hubpages is that most of the "work" is done for you. You get the HP brand put onto your articles, and if I understand correctly, that gives us a bit of a boost. The community aspect of Hubpages is amazing as well.

That being said, Wordpress.com has quite an extensive community as well and I found that if you really want to set something up that is very niche-specific, you can get quite a bit out of the way that WP is set up!

RKHenry 8 years agofrom Neighborhood museum in Somewhere, USA

Excellent article! Congrats on your nomination!!

GeneriqueMedia 8 years agofrom Earth

This is well done. Thank you for the pictures! Makes me want to go to wordpress...however, my "blogging" is done throughout my Hubs.

They use an outdated version of Wordpress software, but it's still Wordpress and therefore the preference if you don't like Blogger.

Cindy Vine 8 years agofrom Cape Town

Not sure, can open up a website on wordpress, but for the last couple of months won't let you open a wordpress

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

They block Wordpress.com or they block the files necessary to run the program? There are other options if you have your own website, including Moveable Type, but you have to pay if you want to use Typepad (the MT host).

There are other sources for free WP blogs too, Cindy, so let me know and I can find you one if you like. Most of them are outdated versions though!

Cindy Vine 8 years agofrom Cape Town

I am so annoyed that I can't open my Wordpress Blog here in China as they block Wordpress at the moment grrrrrr so moved to Blogspot for the time being.

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

Thank you both!

Michelle Simtoco 8 years agofrom Cebu, Philippines

Congratulations for being a hubnugget nominee! Yippee...and I love your name...everyday miracles! :-) Keep up the good work!

sheenarobins 8 years agofrom Cebu, Philippines

hello EM, just voted for this hub on hubnugget!

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

Blogging is great! Right now I only keep a personal blog on Blogger, but there is so much that you can do with a good blog!

B.T. Evilpants 8 years agofrom Hell, MI

Bookmarked! I'm not a techie, so this has always scared the bejeebers out of me. But it's high time this jackalope learned to blog.

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Becki Rizzuti 8 years agofrom Indiana, USA

I am so glad that this helped you, Shirley! The new version is a bit more complicated than absolutely necessary, and I must admit that the change was quite frustrating for me. But there are some truly amazing things about Wordpress that make it really the best software out there to get the job done. I have also used Moveable Type (which is not as amazing as it used to be) and find that Wordpress is the superior software.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to let me know so that I can update.

And no, I didn't know that this hub had been chosen as a potential HubNugget! I am so surprised! Thank you! And thank you for letting me know!

Shirley Anderson 8 years agofrom Ontario, Canada

This is very timely for me as I had stalled trying to use Wordpress because I thought it would be too hard. I'm very close to giving it a 'go'. I imagine that I'll be referring back here often!